Do you remember Brooks, a character in the movie The Shawshank Redemption?  He was going to kill Haywood so he could be re-committed to a life sentence at Shawshank Prison, a place he hated, "hell on earth", but a place he knew well. Yes, he had grown comfortable living in "hell".

How often do you hear about the top high school athlete, who now sits on the same bar stool, at the same bar, reliving his glory days with anyone who will listen?  Or, the highly trained professional, forced to make a career change but unable to break out of his current mindset?  Take, for example, commercial pilots; adept at math, science, and engineering but yet many complain that a significant disadvantage of their career choice is the inability to transfer their skills.  The depth of personal discipline that it takes to be a professional pilot is somehow a distant reach in business.  The ability to adapt and change is more important than we recognize.

There are those who believe we are who we are; and those who we are continually evolving. Which one are you? 

Much of life is about transitions, the ability to adapt to new situations, embrace new circumstances and recreate oneself.  There are times we need to risk who we are in the process of change and growth.  Our lessons from the past cannot become a barrier when they chain us to our current path. Embrace who you are, while continuing to focus on who you are going to be.   

Functional Fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used. The concept of Functional Fixedness originated in Gestalt psychology, a movement in psychology that emphasizes holistic processing and adaptive growth.

Evolutionary Fitness is the ability to adapt and change one's thinking and behavior to maximize growth and maintain alignment with the pursuit of one's goals.

Evolving is hard, at times, even brutally tough. Technology and globalization has been accused of eliminating jobs for the past 100 years: cotton gin, internal combustion engine, rail transport, computer technology, while in reality it has simply changed the job market.  Those hurt most by this continued human advancement are those who struggle with Functional Fixedness as transitions for them are almost impossible.  Those with Evolutionary Fitness see advancement as opportunity.  They are able to capitalize on the current economic and technological environment.

Here are my three steps for development of Evolutionary Fitness: 

Read - I continue to be shocked by the number of professionals who don't read!  You will spend 25,000 working hours in the next 10 years of your career with the objective of monetizing your skills. It might be wise to spend some time expanding your skills instead of just "making more donuts" the same old way.  An ongoing source of fresh and relevant ideas, a deeper understanding of and ability to more effectively articulate current methods, and increased self-awareness can all be gained by reading.  What would the results be if you spent 1/16 of your 25,000 hours (just 3 hours a week) reading and expanding your mind? Between audiobooks, podcasts, and smart phones, anyone can create their own custom MBA program for less than the cost of a daily latte. 

Have a Career Plan - Goals should be well-planned and articulated with clearly outlined skills and experience needed to achieve them.  As I explained to my daughter, a freshman at UW-Madison, the higher your GPA, the greater your opportunities will be. That GPA is a reflection of a student's time and focus. If you are not able or willing to put in the time and focus, then you must adjust your goals. 

Personal Gap Analysis - Personal growth is connected to self-awareness.  How can we continue to grow and develop if we don't have a clear understanding of where we are now?  The in-depth self-analysis that this requires takes a lot of courage, which becomes the determining factor in who moves forward and who does not.  If you have the courage, create your own 360 degree review.  Formulate the tough questions on "you" and hand them to people in your personal and professional circle. (My top five questions can be found at www.misuragroup.com under the Resources and Links tab.)  Remind your colleagues of the Bobby Knight quote, "If I did not tell you you were doing it wrong, how else would you know?"  Once you understand where you are, you can then complete a Gap analysis.  Next, profile a professional who is in a position you desire.  Map their skills and talents and compare them to your own. 

Being comfortable with being uncomfortable takes practice.  Preferring to be told of gaps and taking action is a daily lifestyle commitment.  Or, as Red said at Shawshank, "Get busy living or get busy dying".   

To Your Success,

Tony Misura